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PlainSpell

contractor

con·trac·torUK /ˈkɒnˌtɹæk.tə(ɹ)/noun

contractor is spelled C-O-N-T-R-A-C-T-O-R: 10 letters and 3 syllables (con·trac·tor). It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, contractor means “A person or company that builds or improves buildings or structures” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of contractor is contractors.

How many letters and syllables are in contractor?

Letters10: C-O-N-T-R-A-C-T-O-R
Syllables3: con·trac·tor
In writing12 times per million words; the 6,230th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is contractor?

Contractor appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,230th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce contractor?

  • UK /ˈkɒnˌtɹæk.tə(ɹ)/

Contractor has 3 syllables, split con·trac·tor in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-contractor.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of contractor

  • contractors plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does contractor mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A person or company that builds or improves buildings or structures.

  2. 2

    A person or company that performs specific tasks like electrical or plumbing work in construction projects.

  3. 3

    A person or company hired to maintain existing facilities like air conditioning systems, groundskeeping, etc.

  4. 4

    A person hired to do a job on a business contract, as opposed to a permanent employee.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate contractor?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of contractor: contr..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Contractor in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchentrepreneur (A person or company that constructs or improves…), sous-traitant (A person or company that performs specific…), contractant (A person on a business contract, as opposed to…)
GermanBauunternehmer, Bauausführer (A person or company that constructs or improves…), Auftragnehmer, Firma (A person or company that performs specific…), Wartungsfirma (A person or company hired to maintain existing…)
Portuguesepedreiro (A person or company that constructs or improves…), autônomo, terceirizado (A person on a business contract, as opposed to…)
Spanishconstructor, contratista (A person or company that constructs or improves…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does contractor come from?

Borrowed from Late Latin contractor, from Latin contract-, stem of contractus + -tor. First attested in the 16th century.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after contractor